Evening Dress thumbnail 1
Evening Dress thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Evening Dress

1985 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The pleated silk dress is painted in hues of purple and blue. Inspired by 'Delphos' dresses, it is weighted with glass beads at the hem. Unstructured garments gave the artists the opportunity to show their painterly skills to maxiumum advantage. It took Ian four weeks to complete the intricate classical vine design on the coat. Ian & Marcel worked to commission creating unique items of clothing and interior furnishings.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Evening Coat
  • Evening Dress
Materials and techniques
Pleated and painted silk, painted satin and lined
Brief description
Pleated and painted silk evening dress and painted satin evening coat, designed by Ian & Marcel, London, 1985
Physical description
Pleated and painted silk dress and painted satin evening coat.
Gallery label
1997 label text: The pleated silk dress is painted in hues of purple and blue. Inspired by Fortuny's Delphos dresses, it is weighted with glass beads at the hem. Unstructured garments gave the artists the opportunity to show their painterly skills to maximum advantage. It took Ian four weeks to complete the intricate classical ine design on the coat. Ian & Marcel worked to commission creating unique items of clothing and interior furnishings. 2021 note: In October 2021 the catalogue records for the ‘Delphos’ dresses in the V&A collection were updated to incorporate recent research on Henriette Nigrin. Prior to this, the ‘Delphos’ dresses in the collection were catalogued as designed by Mariano Fortuny. For more information, see, for example, the record for T.193&A-1974. (1997)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Mr Ian Cooper and Mr Marcel Aucoin
Object history
Registered File number 1992/894.
Subject depicted
Summary
The pleated silk dress is painted in hues of purple and blue. Inspired by 'Delphos' dresses, it is weighted with glass beads at the hem. Unstructured garments gave the artists the opportunity to show their painterly skills to maxiumum advantage. It took Ian four weeks to complete the intricate classical vine design on the coat. Ian & Marcel worked to commission creating unique items of clothing and interior furnishings.
Bibliographic reference
De La Haye, Amy, ed. The Cutting Edge: 50 Years of British Fashion 1947-1997. London: V&A Publications, 1997. p. 92 & 93.
Collection
Accession number
T.310:1, 2-1992

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Record createdSeptember 17, 2003
Record URL
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